Thomas Burke
Thomas Burke (portrayed by Michael Landes) was a character in the film Final Destination 2. He was a New York state trooper and a survivor of the Route 23 accident that occured. He also served as the male protagonist, alongside Kimberly Corman. Burke was driving down the road when he saw a Log truck with a loose chain. Before he could do anything, hot coffee spilled on his leg and caused him to shout on in pain. When he looked back up after wiping his uniform, a large log bounced into the air and smashed through the windshield, crushing his head. In reality, this hadn't happened yet and was all a dream seen in Kimberly's mind. Burke drove up to Kimberly SUV once she freaked out and said an accident was going to happen, but he didn't believe her. Suddenly, the accident did happen and several motorists were killed. Burke retreated to his patrol car to report the accident while Kimberly stared at the accident, unable to believe what was happening. Burke saw a semi coming for Kimberly and he ran up to her, grabbing her and pulling out of the way before it ran her over. Kimberly friends weren't so lucky, and they were all incinerated in the crash. After the accident, Burke teamed up with Kimberly to find and save the other survivors when he realized that Death was coming for them. However, all attempts were futile and he only managed to save Kimberly. Originally, Burke was supposed to have died in a shootout when he and his partner were called in on a crime bust, but at the last second, Burke was sent to clean up one of the Flight 180 victims, Billy Hitchcock. Officer Burke was the last survivor to die. Death Three years after Brian Gibbons' death, Burke went to a hardware store to buy supplies, where he met Kimberly inside the same store. As they greeted each other, an unmanned vehicle began to drive down the road until it crashed into the store, nearly killing Kim and Burke. They rushed outside the back door at the last minute only to come into contact with a woodchipper, which failed to shut off. Kimberly got her coat caught inside the machine and was slowly sucked in. Burke tried to save Kimberly, but in the process, he got caught in the machine too. Both of them were hacked to bits by the woodchipper, their blood splattering all over the wall. The newspaper article shown in the "Choose Their Fate" feature of Final Destination 3 which describes the accident reads verbatim as the following: Survivors of deadly crash die in bizarre accident REPORT | Faulty woodchipper to blame Lakeview, NJ (AP) - In a strange end to a long running mystery that has kept conspiracy theorists and supernaturalists occupied for years, New Jersey police Officer Thomas Burke and Ms. kimberly Corman - the last survivors of the infamous Route 180 Pileup - died instantly yesterday when they were pulled into a malfunctioning industrial woodchipper. both were pronounced dead at the scene by local paramedics. According to eyewitnesses, Ms. Corman stopped at Goldstein's Hardware on North Way for directions. She was surprised to find Mr. Burke also in the store, having stopped by to purchase a fire extinguisher. Neither had seen each other since they were witnesses at the death of Mr. Brian Gibbons, a young man associated with the Route 180 mystery. At the same time, the brakes failed on an unmanned Camaro parked at the top of the hill, which rolled down and crashed into the front of the store. In their effort to escape, Mr. Burke and Ms. Corman ran out the back door, where a large industrial woodchipper was being serviced for a malfunctioning safety guard. Subsequent details are unclear, but apparently Ms. Corman's coat got tangled in the woodchipper's spinning blades, and when Mr. Burke tried to save her, they both fell into the machine. "I'll never recover from seeing what happened to those two, said a shaken Mr. Norman Goldstein, owner of the hardware store. "And I don't think I'll ever get the side of the building cleaned off." Mr. Burke and Ms. Corman were the last survivors of the highway pileup on Route 180 three years ago. Several people were prevented from going on the highway by Ms. Corman, who allegedly experienced a premonition that the crash was about to occur. Soon after, however, each of the survivors was killed in a series of odd accidents. This fueled speculation by some that dark forces were at work to make sure they died. While both Mr. Burke and Ms. Corman were exonerated of any involvement in the deaths, the stigma impacted them severely. Mr. Burke was reduced to a desk job in the sheriff's department while Ms. Corman dropped out of school to pursue "other interests." Their deaths might have signaled the tragic conclusion to the Routh 180 Pileup mystery, but several facts surrounding the deaths of Mr. Burke and Ms. Corman seem to ensure that it will be discussed for years to come. The camaro that rolled into the front of the store used to be owned by Mr. Evan Lewis, one of the other survivors from the Route 180 pileup who had been killed outside his apartment. The woodchipper belonged to Mr. Roger Gibbons, who owns the farm where several of the other survivors of the Route 180 Pileup perished in a strange car accident. He is also the father of Brian Gibbons, at whose odd death both Mr. Burke and Ms. Corman were present. Finally, the attending physician who signed the death certificate was Dr. Ellen Kalarjian, who delivered a baby whose motehr was near, but not involved with, the Route 180 Pileup. These coincidences were not lost on those close to the victims. "This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen in twenty seven years on the force," said Sheriff Mortimer Perry, who was Burke's commanding officer. "Thomas was a good man who deserved better than what Fate clearly had in store for him." Ms. Corman's father Michael Corman released a statement which stated "My daughter lived a full life, and in death has hopefully escaped whatever it is that haunted her." Funeral services will be held at the Bludworth Funeral Home this Sunday. ' *Note that the article says route 180 pileup, when in the movie it was actually route 23. *The article says the event took place at Lakeview, NJ, but in the movie it says they were residents of While Plains, NY. *The funeral services for both were held at Mr. Bludworth's Funeral Home, the mortician in the first 2 films. *At the top of the page of the newspaper, there is a heading that says "COST OF COMMUTING | B'2-3" which could possibly be referencing the route 23 pileup, or mere coincidence. *There is inconsistency in the timeline of events as described by this article. It says they were both the last survivors of the pileup that happened 3 years ago. Kevin Fischer specifically said that the Flight 180 premonition happened 6 years ago, and in Final Destination 2, the pileup happened on the exact day that marked a year since the Flight 180 premonition. Unless the newspaper article is outdated in the movie, as it was covering a homeless man, this creates an error in the timeline. * Note: this can only be a feature of "choose their fate" of Final Destination 3 just as the alternate scenes, so it´s not necesary canonical... Signs/Clues *The woodchipper that sucks him in is owned by Gibbons' father. *Burke's police callsign is 'Unit 13'. *Ironically, the machine that kills him is a machine that deals with logs and wood. Category:Final Destination 2 Category:Final Destination 2 characters Category:Characters